College football week 8 is in the books. After every week fans can take away things from what happened on the field. Here are 5 things learned from college football week 8.
1. Ohio State is Passing the Eye Test
After dropping a game to Oregon in week 2, Ohio State has rebounded well. They have absolutely dominated Maryland and Rutgers. The same can be said of their week 8 matchup against Indiana. They dominated the Hoosiers from start to finish, winning the game 54-7. Big games were had by several players and the emergence of quarterback C.J. Stroud has been important for Ohio State.
If the College Football Playoff Bracketology was based solely on the eye test, Ohio State would be top two in the country. They still need to notch some marquee wins on the season and will get their chance in the coming weeks with Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan still left on the schedule. Even though they aren’t in the top four on bracketology right now, Ohio State is trending to be in it very shortly.
2. Caleb Williams Saved Oklahoma’s Season…Again
Kansas got an early lead on Oklahoma and needed a late comeback to win. Caleb Williams did not have his greatest game, as he kept on forcing balls deep to receivers who were well covered. He did rebound though and finish the game with 178 passing yards, 70 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The key play happened on a fourth and short that Oklahoma needed to get to help seal the game. As running back Kennedy Brooks was being tackled, he stripped his own teammate and ran for the first down. The Sooners were able to run out the rest of the clock.
Oklahoma has had so many close games this season, but stayed undefeated with the win. Inserting Williams into the lineup has helped bring life to their running game and really the entire offense. They have some big games coming up where Williams will be tested. He has a knack for the big plays, but he also needs to check the ball down if things are covered deep. There just might be more heroics for Williams in the next few weeks.
3. Appalachian State Mountaineers are the Frontrunners in the Sun Belt East
The Sun Belt is famous for some pretty big midweek games and week 8 featured a huge one. Undefeated and ranked Coastal Carolina traveled to Boone, North Carolina to take on Appalachian State. The Mountaineers played the Chanticleers tough and were able to hit a walk-off field goal to win the game and to take the inside track to win the Sun Belt East.
The Chanticleers may have a tough time making a New Year’s Six Bowl game after losing. They’ll have to hope for an Appalachian State loss to make the Sun Belt Championship. Appalachian State will have the momentum throughout the rest of the season.
4. The Overtime Rule Needs to be Changed
Before the season a change to the overtime rules was made. If teams are tied after regulation, they will now play just two regular overtimes. After that point, if the game is still tied, the teams will do two-point conversions in place of more overtimes. Penn State and Illinois went to nine overtimes due to this rule.
The Fighting Illini were able to win the game, but it was not pleasant to watch. Both teams failed to convert many two-point conversions in the overtime periods. Teams have limited two-point plays on their call-sheets and it is hard to score from two and a half yards out with limited space to operate. The game would’ve ended much quicker if the game was just allowed to go through normal overtimes. Making a change for player-safety is admirable, but the product on the field was awful.
5. Sam Hartman is on his way to Becoming a Heisman Candidate
Not many people had Wake Forest being undefeated through seven games this season. The Demon Deacons defeated Army this weekend to extend their winning streak. They put up 70 points in the process against the Black Knights. A lot of their success is thanks to quarterback Sam Hartman, who is having a great season.
Through seven games, Hartman has 2,073 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and three interceptions on 65.3 percent completion. In a year where not many are standing out on an individual basis, Hartman is trending towards being a candidate. It may be hard for him to actually win the award, as Wake Forest doesn’t get much national recognition, but getting Wake Forest to an undefeated record this late in the season is impressive.
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